Shared Parental Leave

Sheryl Sandberg's book 'Lean in' has refreshed the debate on gender equality in the workplace, encouraging women not to sabotage their own careers in order to have children. Sandberg's vision of 50 per cent women in every boardroom could only ever be achieved by changes to employment laws on maternity and paternity provision. To reduce discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth and make it easier for men to have an equal role in raising their children, the government has launched the Children and Families Bill introducing shared parental leave for mothers and fathers in 2015. The new scheme will allow parents to share the statutory maternity leave and pay that is only available to mothers at the moment. Ordinary paternity leave and pay will continue but additional paternity leave and pay will be abolished. Women…

Employment Law Changes April 2013

The government is planning to make a number of changes to employment law in the near future. The key changes which will affect employers include: Increases in statutory payment rates Statutory payments go up every April at the start of the new tax year.  For the next three years they are limited to a one per cent increase.  From 6 April statutory sick pay will be £86.70 per week. Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay go up on the first Sunday in April so, from 7 April, they will be £136.78 per week. Increase in parental leave From 8 March parents will be able to take a maximum of 18 weeks unpaid parental leave per child, rather than 13 weeks. Parents will still be able to take a maximum of four weeks leave per year…

Social Media The Implications For Employers

The use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and blogs is growing every day and, with many people accessing social media at work, it is hardly surprising that Facebook has been described as an "HR accident waiting to happen". What are the risks associated with allowing social media to be used in the workplace and how can employers minimise them when developing a social media policy? Risks include: discrimination claims; lost productivity; vicarious liability for employee's actions; losing confidential information; damage to the reputation of the business; and losing ownership of social media contacts.   The most effective way to minimise risks is to issue a social media policy to all staff including consultants, contractors, casual staff, agency workers and volunteers. A good policy will cover access periods, monitoring provisions…

Dismissing A Senior Executive

An executive director, who is employed by a company, has the same employment rights as any other employee. This means that he or she can claim compensation for redundancy, unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal or breach of contract. If they suspect that their dismissal is because of discrimination, they may also be able to claim for this. A company may also have to address the following tricky issues: removal as a director of the company; transfer of any shares held by the director; dealing with any share options; obtaining shareholder approval for any compensation payments; and safeguarding the business after the director leaves.   In order to defend a claim of unfair dismissal, a company will need to show that it followed a fair procedure and that it acted reasonably in all the circumstances…

Lawful Deductions From Pay

As the recession continues to bite and many employers feel the need to run a tight ship, care should be taken that deductions from employees' wages are made lawfully to avoid expensive tribunal claims. "Wages" are defined broadly and cover any sums payable to the worker in connection with employment, including any fee, bonus, commission, holiday pay or other payment referable to the worker's employment. A deduction from a worker's wages can only be made lawfully if: the deduction is required or authorised by law, and this includes tax, national insurance and attachment of earnings; the deduction is required or authorised by the worker's contract, for example a company car clause; or  the worker has given prior written consent to the deduction, such as a season ticket loan agreement or the purchase of childcare…

How To Discipline Employees Fairly

Some employers are reluctant to address problems with employees and put up with unacceptable conduct or substandard performance, sometimes for many years, until the employee resigns and solves the problem by default. However it is possible to deal with such matters fairly, without risking costly employment tribunal claims. You should first consider whether you need to take formal action under your disciplinary procedure and carry out a thorough and reasonable investigation. Before the disciplinary hearing, the employee must be informed in writing of the case against them, told what the possible consequences will be, given copies of any evidence so they can prepare and reminded of their right to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative.  At the hearing, you should explain the allegations and go through the evidence. Following the hearing…

Tupe Pitfalls

Last month, Gillian Reid explained when the TUPE rules apply. This month, Gill highlights a couple of mistakes for employers to avoid in a TUPE situation. Changing terms of employment Any changes made by the new employer to terms of employment will be void, if the reason for the change is the transfer or a reason connected with it. This makes it very difficult to harmonise terms and conditions of employment. If changes are made to an employee's contract that are to his detriment, he can resign and claim constructive dismissal. Automatic unfair dismissal Any dismissal of an employee with the necessary qualifying period of service (which is one or two years, depending on when he started work), will be automatically unfair if the reason for the dismissal was the transfer or a reason connected…

Varying Terms Of Employment

Changing terms and conditions of employment is one way of reducing payroll costs without having to make staff redundant. But, as ever, it is important to follow the correct employment procedures and look out for a number of pitfalls. Examples of changes to terms of employment include: scaling back working hours reducing the number of days of work cutting pay by a percentage. You can vary a contract of employment in two ways. The first is if the contract of employment allows you to do so and the second is with the agreement of the employee. If your contracts do not include any of these terms, you will need to obtain agreement from your employees to the changes you wish to make. This can be done in three ways: You can seek…

Tupe Regulations When They Apply

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations - known as "TUPE" - have been in force in various forms for over 30 years. Despite this, the law is still developing through case law. TUPE stems from a European directive and is intended to protect employees' rights where the business in which they work is transferred; and any attempt to avoid it will be void. Gillian Reid explains when TUPE applies, although some of these rules are relaxed where the business is insolvent and specialist advice should always be taken in this situation. TUPE applies to company asset sales where the whole or part of a business is transferred to a new owner. It does not apply to company share sales, where the identity of the employer stays the same. TUPE also applies to service…

Maternity Leave Part 2

Gillian Reid continues to answer some tricky questions from employers regarding employment procedures and maternity leave: What do I do about bonuses during an employee's maternity leave? This is a difficult area and the answer depends on the reason for the bonus. If it is to reward work done, payment only has to be made on a pro rata basis for the weeks when the employee was at work plus the two week compulsory maternity leave period immediately after the birth. Other types of bonus - such as a loyalty bonus or a Christmas bonus - will be payable in full. What happens if I need to make a woman on maternity leave redundant? This is permitted but an employee who is at risk of redundancy while on maternity leave has the right to be…